Charcoal grilling units have been used for many years to cook meats and other food items. For those units used outdoors employing charcoal or other similar fuel source, the typical grilling unit consists of a fuel bed to retain the charcoal and a grilling surface located above the heated charcoal embers upon which the meat or other food item is cooked. Optionally, the grilling units may include a spit located above the fuel source, rotatable by hand or by electric motor, upon which individual portions of meat or other food items are placed for roasting.
The grilling surface of grilling units are traditionally made from metal, which is durable and provides excellent heat conduction. Unfortunately, the heat conduction properties of the metal make hand adjustment of the grilling surface difficult after heating has begun because of the high temperatures of those surfaces to be adjusted. This problem of height adjustment is further compounded by the combined weight of the grilling surface and the food items to be cooked. As the combined weight increases, the grilling surface height adjustment becomes more difficult. Also, the support members for the typical grilling units are not designed to accommodate large pieces of meat, for example, weighing several hundred pounds.